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Walking lunges are a fantastic way to build strength in your lower body. Not only does this exercise target all of the major muscle groups in your legs, it also helps improve your balance and core strength. They're pretty easy to do too.
Walking lunges provide a great full-body workout, but they can also help you increase bone density, improve hip stability, and reduce back pain.
Walking lunges are great for building leg strength for sports that involve running, jumping, or kicking. For example, walking lunges can benefit basketball players who need to jump high or soccer players who need a powerful kick.
To make sure you get the most out of your workout, it’s important to remember some key points regarding form and technique.
How to Do the Walking Lunges
Walking lunges are a great way to stretch and strengthen your legs. Want to know how to do them?
Let's break it down.
- Stand up straight by maintaining a good distance between your feet. You can keep your hands by the side of your body or on your hips—it's totally a personal choice.
- Next, step forward with your right leg, putting the weight into your heel. Bend that knee, lowering down so that it’s parallel to the floor in a lunge position. Pause for a beat.
- Now, WITHOUT moving the right leg, move the left foot forward, repeating the same movement on the left leg. Pause as your left leg is parallel to the floor in a lunge position.
- Repeat this movement, walking forward as you lunge. Change legs each time. Do 10 to 15 reps on each leg. Perform two to three sets.
Correct Form & Technique
Lunges are a big exercise that can throw your form off as you fatigue. Take your time, pay attention to where your body is, and watch yourself in the mirror so you don't neglect correct form.
Proper walking lunge form is important if you want to get the most out of your workout and avoid injury. Here's how to use correct form:
- To do a walking lunge with correct form, keep your core engaged and chest high, making sure to keep your back straight and shoulders over your hips throughout the entire exercise.
- Stand with your feet together.
- Maintaining an upright posture, take a long step forward with one leg, lowering into a lunge position by bending both knees to roughly 90 degrees.
- Your front knee should be directly over your big toe, and your weight should be evenly distributed along the entire foot.
- Your back knee should be pointing toward the ground with your upper body leaning slightly forward.
- Push off through your front foot to bring both legs together and stand up straight as you repeat on the other side.
By keeping these tips in mind you'll get the most out of each lunge and stay safe from injury.
Benefits of Walking Lunges
This form of exercise can benefit the body in multiple ways.
- It promotes weight loss. Walking Lunges engage the main muscle groups in your lower body, resulting in the development of lean muscle and the reduction of body fat. It also increases your resting metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories and lose weight.This can be performed as part of a high-intensity circuit training routine with heavy weights, challenging you to push yourself to your limits.
- It increases stability and balance. It is an effective lower-body workout since you work on each side of your body separately. Single-leg motions help you develop balance, coordination, and stabilization of your muscles. When you work one leg at a time, your body becomes less stable, forcing your spine and core to work harder to stay balanced.
- It helps with body alingment. Walking lunges are more effective than one-sided exercises for rehabilitating an injury, since they can correct imbalances and misalignments in your body. Especially if you are recovering from an injury or have a disability, lunges might be a good choice for you. They can help you strengthen your muscles and make your body more symmetrical.
- It enhances your posture. If you want to prevent back pain and improve your posture, lunges are a great choice. If you already have back pain, lunges can help you develop stronger core muscles that can ease your pain and improve your mobility. Lunges can also help you build an overall stronger body.
How to incorporate walking lunges into your routine
Start by completing 10 to 12 walking lunges at a time if you're new to exercise. Try additional lunge variations, such as leaping lunges or lunges with a bicep curl if you want to reduce weight or tone your body.
Additionally, two to three times per week, try aerobic or high-intensity interval training, alternating days with strength training, such as lunges.
Takeaway
Walking lunges are a great functional exercise for building lower-body strength. Add them to your weekly workout program to improve your legs, hips, glutes, abs, and other muscles.
Start with a static lunge if you're new to exercising. You can progress once you've mastered the movement. If you're not sure if you're doing the activity correctly, consult a skilled personal trainer.
